1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to systems and methods for using video for virtual reality applications, and more particularly for generating a video in response to an action requested by a user to perform virtual movement along a virtual path in a virtual environment and such that the video is both panoramic and spatially indexed.
2. Description of Related Art
There have been many attempts to recreate the experience of “being in a particular place.” Traditionally, this was done only through art and descriptive prose. Photography provided a great step forward in the ease and accuracy with which places could be depicted. Motion pictures and video recording provided another important improvement. These conventional mediums provide a user with a view of the space selected by a photographer in advance.
Ideally, reconstructing the experience of “being in a particular place” would allow the user to freely move around, and choose where to look. Conventionally, one approach requires a computer model of the space, and real time view rendering as a user virtually navigates through the space. Another recent approach is to record enough images to approximate the flow of light in any direction and through any point in the space, such as by representing structures using “light fields” or “lumigraphs” over a four dimensional domain.
Two conventional image-based approaches have been previously developed in an attempt to provide the feeling of being in a particular place. One approach is panoramic imagery, which allows a user to freely choose which direction to gaze from a fixed point of view. The panoramas may be recorded digitally, or may use film-based images which are scanned at high-resolution during post-processing. The panoramic images or video may be delivered over the Internet using a streaming system. Another approach is the association of video with paths that a user may follow, or images with points along those paths.